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HISTORIC    LITCHFIELD 

1721-1907 

BEING  A  SHORT  ACCOUNT 

OP  THE 
HISTORY  OF  THE  OLD   HOUSES  OF   LITCHFIELD 


COMPILED  FROM 

KILBOURN'S*  HISTORY  OF   LITCHFIELD,  GEO.  C.  WOODRUFF'S  HISTORY 
OF  THE  TOWN  OF  LITCHFIELD,  KILBOURN'S  HISTORY  OF  LITCH- 
FIELD TRADITION,  THE  LITCHFIELD  COUNTY  CENTENNIAL 
CELEBRATION,    THE     LITCHFIELD     BOOK     OF     DAYS, 
AND     CHRONICLES     OF     A     PIONEER    SCHOOL 


By  ALICE    T.    BULKELEY 


ILLUSTRATED  FROM  ORIGINAL   PHOTOGRAPHS  BY  THE  COMPILER 

(Second  Edition) 


HARTFORD   PRESS: 

The  Case,  Lockwood  &  Brainard  Company 

1907 


Copyright  1907 

by 
ALICE  T.  BULKELEY 


5 
04-1 


TO 

ALL   LOVERS   OF   LITCHFIELD 

THIS  LITTLE  BOOK 
IS    DEDICATED 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO  FACE  PAGE 
SOUTH  STREET  TITLE. 

BANTAM    LAKE, 10 

THE  VAILL  HOMESTEAD, 12 

OLIVER  WOLCOTT  HOUSE, 13 

H.  B.  BELDEN  HOUSE 14 

W.  H.  SANFORD  HOUSE, 14 

REEVE- WOODRUFF  HOUSE .       .  15 

RESIDENCE  OF  COL.  GEO.  B.  SANFORD, 16 

EPISCOPAL   RECTORY, 16 

HUBBARD  HOUSE  AND  WOLCOTT  ELM,  OVER  125  YEARS  OLD,      ...  17 

THE  CHAMPLIN  HOUSE, 18 

THE    SEYMOUR    HOMESTEAD, 18 

GOULD  HOUSE,  OWNED  BY  MRS.  J.  MASON  HOPPIN,         ....  19 

TALLMADGE  HOUSE,  OWNED  BY  MRS.  JOHN  VANDERPOEL,         ...  20 

RESIDENCE  OF  HON.  J.  DEMING  PERKINS, 21 

NORTH  STREET  IN  OCTOBER, 22 

THE  LITCHFIELD  HILLS, 23 

BRICK  OVEN  FIRE-PLACE  IN  A  LITCHFIELD  HOUSE, 24 

HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  PEWTER 24 

LITCHFIELD  GARDENS, 25 

RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  HENRY  R.  Coir, 26 

RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  E.  L.  FERRY, 26 

BUEL  HOMESTEAD, 27 

RESIDENCE  OF  DR.  JOHN  L.  BUEL, 27 

SPRING  HILL  SANATORIUM, 28 

THE  ROBERTS  HOUSE, 29 

PHELPS   HOUSE, 30 

LIBRARY    CORNER, 30 

UNITED  STATES  HOTEL, 31 

ROBERTS'   CORNER, 31 

THE  EDSON  PERKINS  HOUSE, 32 

THE    HAWKHURST    HOTEL, 33 

MILE   STONE, 33 

CLUB  HOUSE, 34 

CLUB  HOUSE  TENNIS  COURTS 34 

LITCHFIELD  ANTIQUE  SILVER  AND  GLASS  AS  SHOWN  AT  D.  A.  R.  EXHIBI- 
TION, AUGUST,  1903, 35 

COUNTY  JAIL  AND  WHIPPING  POST  ELM, 36 

A  CORNER  OF  THE  GEORGE  JUNIOR  REPUBLIC, 37 


INDEX 


PAGE 
House  of — 

Adams,   Chief  Justice,  .     28 

Allen,  Ethan,  .  .  .17 
Andrews,  Judge  Charles  B.,  17 
Beecher,  Dr.  Lyraan,  .  .  27 
Belden,  The  Misses  .  -15 
Bissell,  Jerome  and  Warren,  31 
Brace,  John  P.,  .  .  23 

Buel,  Dr.  John  L.,  .  .  28 
Buel,  Miss  Mary,  .  .  .36 
Buel,  The  Misses,  .  -27 

Champlin,  Edward  E.,  .  18 
Coit,  Mrs.  Henry  R.,  .  .  29 
Daniels,  C.  F.,  .  .16 

Deming,  Frederick,  .  .  23 
Ferry,  Mrs.  E.  L.,  .  .  n,  27 
Goddard,  Mrs.  F.  Norton,  .  36 
Hoppin,  Mrs.  J.  Mason,  n,  19 
Hubbard,  Mrs.  John  H.,  17 

Jones,   Henry  R 27 

Jones,  Miss  Henrietta,  .  .  17 
Kenney,  George  B.,  .  .31 
Lord,  Miss,  .  .  .  .28 
Maxwell,  Mrs.  W.  H.,  .  .  27 
Perkins,  Hon.  J.  Deming,  21,22 
Perkins,  Edson  L.,  .  .31 
Phelps,  Miss  Mary  L.,  .  30 
Pierce,  Miss  Sarah,  .  23,  24 
Reeve,  Judge  Tapping,  .  15 
Richards,  Rev.  George,  .  27 
Richards,  Rev.  James,  .  .  27 

Roberts,   Elbert  P 29 

Sanctum,  The,  .  .  .  36 
Sanford,  Col.  Geo.  B.,  .  .  16 
Sanford,  William  H.,  .  .18 
Seymour,  Episcopal  Rectory,  18 
Seymour,  Morris,  .  .  .18 
Sheldon,  Dr.  Daniel,  .  .  22 
Tallmadge,  Col.  Benjamin, 

.      II,   20,   21,   22 

Underwood,   F.   L.,   .     .         .    23 

Vaill,  Joseph  H 13 

Vanderpoel,  Mrs.  John,  .  20 
Van  Winkel,  Miss  Mary,  .  28 
Wallbridge,  W.  G.,  .  .  17 
Woodruff,  Charles  H.  (Reeve- 
Woodruff),  ...  15 
Woodruff,  Morris,  .  -17 
Wolcott,  Oliver,  Sr.,  .  10,  13, 

14,  21,  32  . 

Wolcott,  Oliver  Jr.,  .  13,  16,  32 
Wolcott  Farm-House,  .  .  13 
Wright,  Rev.  W.  G.,  M.  A.,  17 


PAGE 
Miscellaneous — 

Bank,  First  National  of  Litch- 

field 33 

Bantam  Lake,         ...       9 
Cathedral    of    Lichfield,    Eng., 

Stone  from,  .  .  -32 
Cemetery,  .  .  .  .32 
China  Trading  Company, 

Litchfield,    .         .        .         .22 
Cincinnati,   Society  of  the,   .     21 
Club  House,  The  Litchfield,     34 
Churches — 

First    Congregational,    .         .31 
St.   Michael's   Protestant   Epis- 
copal,          .        .        .         -31 
Methodist  Episcopal,     .         .     32 
St.    Anthony's    Roman     Cath- 
olic  32 

Court  House,  .  .  .  -36 
County  Jail,  .  .  .  -36 
D.A.R.,  Mary  Floyd  Tallmadge 

Chapter 35 

Enquirer,  The  Litchfield,  .  32,  33 
Fire  Department  Building,  The 

Litchfield,    .        .        .         -33 

Golf    Club 34 

George  Junior  Republic,  Litchfield 

Branch,  .  .  .36,  37 
Hawkhurst,  The,  .  .  .  -34 
Hill,  Wolf-Pit,  .  .  .  .12 
Historical  Society,  The  Litchfield,35 
Hotel,  United  States,  .  .  30,  31 
Law  School,  Litchfield,  .  .  15,  1 6 
Litchfield  in  1810,  .  .  -25 
Litchfield  Lyceum,  .  .  .26 
Library,  Litchfield  Public,  .  26,  34 
Manual  Labor  High  School  of 

Litchfield  County,      .        .    26 

Mile  Stone, 9 

Mt.   Tom, 9 

Post  Road,  First,  .  .  .  .25 
Prospect  Mountain,  ...  9 
Sanatoriums — 

Dr.  Alanson  Abbey's   Sana- 
torium for  cripples,  .         .     18 
Spring   Hill>  ...    28 

Schools — 

Miss  Pierce's  Female  Acad- 
emy,   ...        23,  24,  25 
Elm   Park    Collegiate    Insti- 
tute,     27 

Miss    Henrietta    Jones'    School 
for   Young   Ladies,    .        .     17 


Vlll 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Schools — 

The  Wolcott  Institute,  .  .17 

The   Foster  School,       .  .     34 
School    for    Business    Students, 

etc 26 

Scientific  Society,  Litchfield,  .     35 

Shepaug   Valley  R.   R.,       .  .     33 

Temperance,  Six  Sermons  on,  .     27 

Temperance    Pledge,    .        .  .26 
Vacation  Home,  Shepherd  Knapp,  37 

Village  Improvement  Society,  .     33 

Ye  Old  Curiosity  Shoppe,  .  .     30 
Personages — 

Abbey,  Dr.  Alanson,     .  .18 

Adams,  Chief  Justice,  .  .     28 

Adams,  Mrs  Mary,       .  .     28 

Allen,    Ethan,        .         .  .     17 
Andrews,  Judge  Charles  B.,     17 

Bacon,    Judge,        .        .  .29 

Beach,  Mrs.  Theron,     .  .     22 

Beecher,  Dr.  Lyman,     .  .     27 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  .  .     27 

Buel,  Deacon  John,  .         .  9,  10 

Buel,  Dr.  Henry  W.,     .  .    28 

Buel,  Miss  Mary,  .         .  .36 

Burr,    Aaron,         .         .  -15 

Bushnell,  Rev.   Horace,  .     27 

Calhoun,  Judge  John  C.,  .18 

Child,   Mrs.   Nathaniel  R.,  .     22 

Collins,  Rev.  Timothy,  .  .     30 

Deming,    Miss   Lucretia,  .     22 

Deming,    Julius,    .        .  .21 

Edwards,  The  Misses,  .  .     29 

Edwards,   President,      .  .     29 

Gould,  Judge  James,   .  .    20 


PAGE 

Personages — 

Hollister,  Hon.  Gideon  H.,  15,  23 
Huntington,  Judge  J.  W.,  .  16 
Lafayette,  Gen.,  10,  13,  15,  21,  30 
Lord,  Augustus,  .  .  .28 
Marsh,  Lieutenant  John,  9,  10 
Matthews,  Mayor  of  New 

York,  ....     36 

Reeve,   Judge   Tapping, 

.  n,  15,   16,  20 

Richards,  Rev.  George,  .  27 
Rochambeau,  Gen.,  .  .  10 
Sheldon,  Dr.  Daniel,  .  .  22 
Seymour,  Major  Moses,  18,  36 
Seymour,  Origen  S.,  .  .18 
Seymour,  Ozias,  .  .  .18 
Tallmadge,  Col.  Benjamin, 

II,    20,    21,    22 

Tracey,  Gen.  Uriah,  .  .  20 
Vaill,  Capt.  Joseph,  .  .  12 
Vaill,  Benjamin,  .  .  .12 
Vaill,  Rev.  Hermon  Landon,  12 
Vaill  Dr.  Charles,  .  .  12 
Vaill,  Theodore  F.,  .  .  12 
Washington,  Gen.  George, 

10,  ii,  13,  15,  20,  21 
Weller,  Oliver,  .  .  .29 
Woodruff,  George  C.,  .  -19 
Woodruff,  Morris,  .  -17 
Wolcott,  Ursula,  .  .  .14 
Wolcott,  Frederick,  .  13,  14 
Wolcott,  Oliver  Sr., 

10,   13,   14,  21,   32 
Wolcott,  Oliver  Jr.,       13,  16,  32 


HISTORIC  LITCHFIELD. 

1721-1907, 


The  town  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  the  county  seat,  situated 
on  a  ridge  looking  off  in  every  direction  on  the  beautiful 
hills  of  Litchfield  county,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
state,  and  adjoining  the  Berkshires  of  Massachusetts  fame, 
is  of  much  interest  today  as  a  summer  resort  both  on  account 
of  its  present  beauty  and  past  historical  importance.  Its 
fine  and  bracing  air,  incidental  to  its  elevation  of  1113  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  has  its  tonic  effect  upon  those  making 
their  permanent  home  here  as  well  as  upon  visitors  in  search 
of  health  as  well  as  pleasure.  The  site  of  Litchfield  on  a 
ridge  is  said  to  have  been  chosen  by  the  early  settlers  on 
account  of  its  adaptability  for  defense  against  predatory 
savages,  tradition  pointing  out  places  where  stood  the  ancient 
block  houses. 

The  ancient  milestone,  giving  its  distance  from  New 
York  by  the  old  King's  highway  as  102  miles,  may  still  be 
seen  just  outside  the  village  in  front  of  Elm  Ridge,  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Edwin  McNeil. 

There  are  beautiful  drives  in  every  direction,  Bantam 
Lake,  the  largest  lake  in  Connecticut,  covering  about  900 
acres,  being  about  three  miles  distant.  Mt.  Tom,  six  miles 
southwest  of  the  village  in  the  direction  of  the  Lake,  and 
its  round  top  visible  from  all  points,  is  1500  feet  above  tide 
water.  From  Prospect  Mountain,  four  miles  west  of  the 
Court  House,  may  be  seen  The  Catskills. 

Litchfield  township  was  founded  in  1720-21  by  Deacon 
John  Buel  of  Lebanon,  Lieutenant  John  Marsh  of  Hartford, 
and  fifty-five  others,  "  petitioners  under  committees  from 
Hartford  and  Windsor  (which  towns  at  that  time  held  the 


IO 

title  for  the  'Western  Lands,'  as  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  state,  then  a  wilderness,  was  called),  praying  liberty 
to  settle  a  town  westward  of  Farmington  at  a  place  called 
Bantam."  The  new  town  to  be  called  Litchfield  and  named 
from  Lichfield,  England;  the  first  town  of  the  name  in  the 
United  States,  six  or  seven  others  being  so  named  later. 

The  first  settlers  were  Captain  Jacob  Griswold  of 
Wethersfield,  John  Peck  of  Hartford,  and  Ezekiel  Buck  of 
Wethersfield,  who  brought  their  families  here,  built  log 
houses  on  their  home  lots  and  moved  into  them  during  the 
summer  of  1720.  John  Buel  and  John  Marsh  were  the  two 
most  conspicuous  men  in  the  early  history  of  the  town. 

In  1751,  Litchfield  County  was  organized,  there  being 
great  rivalry  between  Litchfield  and  Goshen  as  to  which 
should  become  the  Shire  town.  The  latter  being  situated 
directly  in  the  centre  of  the  new  county,  many  people,  includ- 
ing Oliver  Wolcott,  afterwards  Governor  of  the  state,  settled 
in  Goshen,  expecting  it  to  be  the  Shire  town.  But  Litchfield 
carried  off  the  honor,  giving  its  name  in  consequence  to  the 
county.  The  pioneers  were  agriculturists,  a  gristmill,  saw- 
mill, blacksmith,  and  clothiers  being  all  the  trade.  At  first 
only  cart  horses  and  pillion  or  ox  cart  in  summer,  and  ox 
sled  and  snowshoes  in  winter,  were  available  for  traveling 
from  place  to  place,  four-wheeled  carts  not  being  in  use  until 
after  the  Revolution.  Spinning  wheels  were  to  be  found 
in  every  house,  and  the  County  town  was  a  common  centre 
during  the  terms  of  the  courts. 

A  stranger  today  is  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  stately 
elms  which  border  the  broad  level  streets.  A  few  new  houses 
are  seen  but  the  majority  of  the  dwellings  belong  to  the 
past,  the  dates  over  the  doorways  showing  some  of  them  to 
be  well  into  their  second  century.  Many  of  them  are  in- 
teresting from  historical  associations,  as  Washington,  La- 
fayette, Rochambeau,  and  other  Revolutionary  celebrities 
honored  the  village  with  their  presence.  Washington's  first 
visit  to  Litchfield  was  August  23d,  1780,  when  he  spent  the 
night,  leaving  the  next  day  for  West  Point,  Litchfield  being 
on  the  stage-coach  line  between  Hartford  and  West  Point, 


BANTAM  LAKE 


BANTAM  LAKE 


II 

and  Boston  and  New  York.  There  were  some  trees  stand- 
ing, when  the  town  was  laid  out,  but  our  present  fine  trees 
did  not  form  a  canopy  over  the  head  of  Washington.  The 
hoary-headed  sycamores  now  standing,  one  in  front  of  the 
Catholic  church  and  one  at  the  corner  of  East  and  South 
streets,  were  then  newly  planted,  the  first  Oliver  Wolcott 
having  set  them  out  with  eleven  others,  giving  to  each  the 
name  of  one  of  the  thirteen  original  states. 

There  were  few  houses  standing  at  this  period;  opposite 
the  Wolcott  homestead  was  the  home  of  Judge  Tapping 
Reeve,  of  later  Law  School  fame,  and  next  below  the  Wol- 
cott house,  the  present  Belden  house  was  then  occupied  by 
Reynold  Marvin,  the  last  king's  attorney  of  the  county, 
Just  north  of  the  house  stood  a  little  office  where  Colonel 
Kirby,  son-in-law  to  Reynold  Marvin,  prepared  the  first  law 
reports  ever  published  in  this  country. 

The  old  Congregational  church  was  on  the  site  of  the 
present  monument.  On  North  street,  the  Tallmadge  house, 
Shelden's  Tavern,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  J.  Mason  Hoppin, 
and  the  Deming  house,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Ferry,  were  the 
only  houses  seen  by  Washington  which  are  still  standing. 
On  the  site  of  the  Sanatorium,  a  large  building  was  used  for 
military  stores,  another  where  the  Court  House  now  stands. 
At  the  foot  of  East  hill  was  a  workshop  for  the  army,  sixty 
feet  long  and  two  stories  high. 

On  Washington's  second  visit  in  1781  and  a  third  visit 
later  he  stayed  at  Sheldon's  Tavern,  the  Hoppin  house  of 
today.  Washington  once  held  a  public  reception  at  the 
house  of  his  aide-de-camp,  Col.  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  on 
North  street,  now  the  summer  home  of  Mrs.  John  Vander- 
poel  of  New  York,  the  great-granddaughter  of  Colonel 
Tallmadge,  who  was  a  member  of  the  regiment  which  went 
out  from  Litchfield,  and  who  performed  such  brilliant  ex- 
ploits that  he  received  the  public  thanks  of  Washington. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  the  visitor  of  today  walking 
up  the  shaded  streets  to  know  the  history  of  some  of  the 
interesting  old  houses.  The  Vaill  Homestead,  situated 


12 

about  two  miles  west  of  the  center,  is  the  oldest  house 
in  the  township.  It  was  built  in  1744  by  Capt.  Joseph 
Vaill,  on  land  which  was  described  in  the  deed  as  "  Wolf- 
Pit  Hill."  The  location  of  the  Wolf-Pit,  is  still  remem- 
bered. The  construction  was  simple  but  effective ;  an  excava- 
tion in  the  ground  was  surmounted  by  heavy  logs  so  arranged 
that  they  would  fall  upon  and  crush  a  wolf  when  it  tugged  at 
the  "  bait "  fastened  to  a  figure-4  trap  underneath.  The 
original  design  of  the  Homestead  was  the  well-known  lean- 
to  of  that  period.  At  a  later  date  the  longer  roof  was  cut 
off,  leaving  the  two  roofs  of  equal  length.  The  stairway 
in  the  main  portion  is  about  five  feet  in  width,  and  rises  under 
an  arch  formed  by  union  of  the  two  brick  chimneys  in  the 
north  and  south  rooms.  It  is  probable  that  a  large  stone 
chimney  originally  occupied  the  space  of  the  present  stair- 
way and  that  the  present  brick  chimneys  and  the  broad 
straight  stairway,  were  subsequent  improvements.  In  1853 
the  old  stone  chimney  and  its  no  longer  required  huge  oven 
were  removed  and  later  other  changes  and  additions  were 
made  bringing  the  appearance  of  the  house  as  it  is  to-day. 
The  second  owner  of  the  Homestead  was  Benjamin  Vaill, 
youngest  of  the  nine  children  of  Capt.  Joseph  Vaill,  who 
lived  there  for  80  years,  until  his  death  in  185 2.  It  was  next 
in  possession  of  the  Rev.  Herman  Landon  Vaill,  eldest  son 
of  Benjamin  after  his  retirement  from  pastoral  service.  In 
1870,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  his  family,  the  present 
owners.  The  homestead  has  remained  continuously  in  the 
same  family  for  over  160  years,  an  unusual  circumstance. 
Among  the  descendants  of  Capt.  Joseph  Vaill,  Dr.  Charles 
Vaill  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  a  wit  whose  sparkling  humor 
is  said  to  have  done  his  patients  more  good  than  his  prescrip- 
tions did,  in  reference  to  the  fact  that  the  Litchfield  branch 
of  the  Vaill  family  adheres  to  the  two  1's  in  the  spelling  of 
the  name,  was  once  asked  why  he  didn't  drop  one  of  his  1's 
'  He  said  he  didn't  know  which  one  to  drop.' 

Theodore  F.  Vaill,  another  descendant  of  Capt.  Joseph, 
was  adjutant  and  historian  of  the  Second  Connecticut  Heavy 


13 

Artillery  in  the  Civil  War,  editor  of  the  Winsted  Herald 
from  1865  to  1875,  author  of  the  "  ^Eneid  in  Modern 
American,"  a  humorous  translation  of  the  First  and  Fourth 
Books  of  Virgil's  JEne'id;  and  Joseph  H.  Vaill,  the  present 
owner,  was  for  many  years  editor  of  the  Winsted  Herald, 
and  Connecticut  representative  as  executive  officer  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  The  Atlanta  Exposition  of 
1895,  and  The  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  of  1904. 

The  Wolcott  house  on  South  street  is  the  oldest  now 
standing  in  the  village.  Governor  Roger  Wolcott  of  Wind- 
sor left  by  will  a  tract  of  land  on  South  street  to  his  son 
Oliver,  on  which  the  latter  built  in  1752  the  Wolcott  house. 
The  Wolcott  farm  and  farmhouse  were  on  the  other  side  of 
the  street  on  the  site  of  the  Lindley  and  Andrews  places. 
This  Oliver  Wolcott  was  Governor  of  the  state,  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  took  a  mem- 
orable part  in  the  struggle  for  freedom.  In  this  house  he 
entertained  George  Washington,  General  Lafayette,  and 
many  other  prominent  men  of  the  time.  In  the  house  were 
born  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  and  Frederick  Wolcott,  called  the 
handsomest  and  most  accomplished  gentleman  of  the  state. 

Oliver  Wolcott,  Sr.,  though  born  in  Windsor  in  1726, 
became  a  resident  of  Litchfield  when  he  was  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  and  hence  his  fame,  subsequently  achieved,  as 
really  belongs  to  the  town  as  though  he  had  been  born  here. 
He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1745,  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine  and  established  himself  as  a  physician  in  Goshen. 
On  the  founding  of  Litchfield  County,  he  was  appointed  by 
the  Legislature,  First  High  Sheriff  of  the  new  county,  which 
office  he  held  for  twenty  years.  In  consequence  of  this  ap- 
pointment he  moved  to  Litchfield  in  1751.  He  was  chosen 
a  representative  to  the  Legislature  five  times,  was  a  member 
of  the  Council  or  Upper  House  from  1771  to  1786,  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Probate  of  the  District  of  Litchfield  from 

1772  to  1795,  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  from 

1773  to    1786,   and  member  of  the  Continental   Congress 
from   1775  to   1784  with  the  exception  of  two  years.     In 


14 

17765  as  above  mentioned,  he  was  one  of  the  memorable 
band  of  patriots  who  affixed  their  names  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  He  was  Brigadier-General  in  the  army, 
Commissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  Major-General  of  the  militia 
of  Connecticut,  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
and  at  the  same  time  held  many  important  positions  in  the 
government  of  the  town.  No  man  in  the  State  at  this  period 
discharged  so  many  and  varied  public  duties.  A  consider- 
able share  of  the  reputation  which  Connecticut  acquired,  for 
promptness  in  furnishing  men  and  means  for  the  army  was 
due  to  General  Wolcott.  Certainly  to  no  other  individual  in 
the  western  counties  could  Governor  Trumbull  or  General 
Washington  appeal  for  aid  with  the  certainty  of  success  as 
to  him.  In  1786  he  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
State  and  was  annually  re-elected  for  ten  years.  In  1796  he 
was  chosen  governor,  and  re-elected  the  following  year. 
He  died  in  1797,  aged  seventy-one  years.  Ursula  Wolcott, 
a  sister  of  Governor  Wolcott,  married  Governor  Matthew 
Griswold,  and  was  the  mother  of  Governor  Roger  Griswold. 
Thus  her  father,  brother,  husband,  son,  and  nephew  were 
all  governors  of  Connecticut,  a  fact  which  cannot  probably 
be  said  of  any  other  lady  who  ever  lived  in  the  State  or 
United  States. 

The  leaden  statue  of  King  George  the  Third,  unveiled 
on  Bowling  Green,  New  York  City,  in  1770,  was  torn  down 
in  1776  after  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, secretly  brought  to  Litchfield  and  melted  into  42,088 
bullets  in  the  apple  orchard  back  of  the  house.  The  bullets 
were  forwarded  to  the  Continental  soldiers  in  order  that 
the  king's  troops  might  have  melted  majesty  fired  at  them. 
The  two  daughters  and  young  son  of  General  Wolcott,  and 
daughters  and  wives  of  many  of  the  Litchfield  patriots  as- 
sisted in  the  melting  and  moulding  of  the  bullets. 

After  the  Revolution  the  Wolcotts  went  into  trade,  Gov- 
ernor Wolcott  with  his  brother  the  Hon.  Frederick  making 
the  experiment  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  cloths  which 
was  disastrous  to  them  but  the  parent  of  the  subsequent 


H.  B.  BELDEN  HOUSE 


W.  H.  SANFORD  HOUSE 


REEVE-WOODRUFF  HOUSE-FRONT 
Owned  by  Mr.  Chas.  H.  Woodruff 


REEVE^WOODRUFF  HOUSE— SOUTH  SIDE 


15 

prosperity  of  Wolcottville,  now  Torrington.  Also  with  two 
other  gentlemen,  trading  direct  with  London  and  China, 
as  more  definitely  described  later.  The  Wolcott  house 
passed  through  various  hands,  and  has  recently  been  added 
to  and  modernized  by  its  present  owner,  Miss  Alice  Wolcott 
of  New  York.  The  Belden  house  next  below  on  South 
street,  was  built  by  Reynold  Marvin,  king's  attorney  in  the 
time  of  George  III.  The  house  was  enlarged  by  Phineas 
Bradley  and  later  occupied  by  the  Hon.  Gideon  H.  Hollister, 
historian  of  Connecticut  and  later  minister  to  Hayti  under 
the  Johnson  administration.  It  is  now  owned  by  the  grand- 
children of  Mrs.  H.  B.  Belden,  who  bought  the  house  from 
Mr.  Hollister. 

Directly  opposite  the  Wolcott  house  is  the  Reeve- Wood- 
ruff house,  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  town  on  account  of 
its  connection  with  the  first  law  school  in  the  United  States. 
Tapping  Reeve,  a  graduate  of  the  college  of  New  Jersey,  now 
Princeton,  married  Sally  Burr,  a  sister  of  Aaron  Burr,  and 
grandaughter  of  President  Jonathan  Edwards.  He  came 
to  Litchfield  in  1772,  and  in  1773  built  the  Reeve  house. 
There  he  founded  the  first  law  school  of  the  country  in  1784, 
of  which  he  was  principal  for  forty  years.  He  entertained 
at  his  home  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time,  Washing- 
ton, Lafayette,  Aaron  Burr,  and  many  others  of  note.  He 
was  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  and  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State. 

He  was  very  absent-minded,  and  on  one  occasion  he  is 
said  to  have  been  seen  walking  up  North  street  with  a  bridle 
in  his  hand  minus  the  horse,  the  latter  having  quietly  slipped 
out  and  walked  off.  Never  noticing  this  serious  omission, 
the  learned  jurist  calmly  fastened  the  bridle  to  a  post  and 
walked  into  the  house. 

Up  to  1784  there  had  been  no  professorships  of  law  in 
the  colleges,  nor  was  law  treated  as  a  liberal  science.  He 
conducted  the  school  alone  until  1798,  when  having  been 
appointed  to  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court,  he  associated 
with  him  Judge  Gould.  They  conducted  the  school  together 


i6 

until  the  age  of  Judge  Reeve  forced  his  retirement.  Judge 
Gould  continued  the  school  alone  until  a  few  years  before 
his  death,  when  J.  W.  Huntington,  who  had  been  associated 
with  him,  continued  it  a  few  years  until  he  became  Judge 
and  United  States  Senator  and  consequently  left  Litchfield. 
Judge  Reeve  first  gave  law  a  place  among  the  liberal 
studies  in  this  country.  A  new  subject  of  study,  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  the  legislation  of  Con- 
gress, required  uniformity  of  interpretation. 

More  than  a  thousand  lawyers  from  all  parts  of  the 
colony  were  educated  at  this  law  school,  and  learned  the 
same  principles  and  modes  of  legal  thinking,  then  dissemi- 
nated them  through  the  country.  After  Judge  Gould's  con- 
nection with  the  school,  went  out  from  it  one  vice-president 
of  the  United  States,  two  Judges  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court,  forty  Judges  of  the  highest  state  courts, 
thirteen  Senators,  forty-six  representatives  in  Congress,  Cab- 
inet and  Foreign  ministers,  and  a  new  impulse  was  given  to 
legal  learning  in  this  country. 

The  small  law  school  building  stood  just  south  of  the 
house,  and  some  years  ago  was  moved  to  West  street,  and 
became  the  west  half  of  the  house  of  C.  F.  Daniels,  opposite 
the  Hawkhurst.  The  original  interior  is  preserved  as  far  as 
possible,  and  on  one  of  the  small  old-fashioned  windows  are 
cut  the  names  of  several  of  the  Edwards  family. 

The  Daniels  house,  this  summer  of  1907  put  up  at  auc- 
tion to  settle  the  Daniel's  estate,  was  sold  to  D.  C.  Kilbourn 
representing,  it  is  supposed,  the  Litchfield  County  Bar  As- 
sociation. In  the  present  General  Assembly  an  effort  is 
being  made  to  get  an  appropriation  to  preserve  the  place  for 
its  historic  value. 

It  is  probable  the  place  will  be  kept  as  a  point  of  history 
to  visitors. 

On  the  same  side  of  South  street  some  distance  farther 
south  is  the  handsome  residence  owned  by  Colonel  George  B. 
Sanford  and  enlarged  by  him.  This  house  was  built  by 
Elijah  Wadsworth  in  1799  and  the  third  Governor  Wolcott 


RESIDENCE   OF    COL.  GEO    B.  SANFORD 


EPISCOPAL    RECTORY 


HUBBARD  HOUSE  AND  WOLCOTT  ELM 


came  into  occupancy  in  1814.  He  was  the  projector  of  our 
present  State  Constitution  and  the  first  Governor  under  it, 
later  Secretary  of  the  United  States  Treasury  under  Wash- 
ington. In  a  part  of  the  house  next  door  now  owned  by  Mr. 
W.  G.  Wallbridge  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  boarding- 
school  for  boys  called  The  Wolcott  Institute,  and  kept  by 
Rev.  W.  G.  Wright,  M.A.,  Rector. 

On  a  fork  of  the  road  much  farther  down  is  a  gambrel- 
roofed  house  with  a  sign  stating  that  Ethan  Allen  was  born 
there.  Ethan  Allen,  the  hero  of  Ticonderoga,  was  born  in 
Litchfield  in  1737,  probably  in  a  house  on  the  West  Goshen 
road.  This  house  is  said  to  have  been  moved  to  its  present 
site,  and  may  consequently  be  his  birthplace,  but  not  as  it 
now  stands. 

On  the  site  of  the  Andrews  place,  a  female  seminary  was 
established  by  Miss  Henrietta  Jones,  a  descendant  of  Gov- 
ernor Jones  of  the  New  Haven  colony.  This  lady  was  cele- 
brated for  her  wit  and  the  energy  of  her  character.  The 
house  was  burned  and  the  Andrews  house  built  on  the  site. 
Judge  Charles  B.  Andrews,  the  owner  of  the  house  until  his 
death,  was  Governor  of  the  State,  and  later  Chief  Justice. 
He  is  the  only  citizen  in  the  history  of  Connecticut  who  held 
the  two  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  State. 

The  house  next  door  owned  by  Mrs.  John  H.  Hubbard, 
though  not  very  old  is  a  fine  type  of  the  best  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  early  nineteenth  century,  the  doorways  being 
especially  fine.  The  piazza  on  the  south  is  unique  as  being 
built  around  a  hawthorn-tree,  the  tree  acting  as  a  roof  and 
shade  from  the  sun.  The  house  was  built  about  1833  by 
Lyman  Smith,  of  whom  Morris  Woodruff,  grandfather  of 
Mr.  George  M.  Woodruff,  bought  it,  living  there  for  many 
years.  In  1855  the  house  was  bought  by  Mr.  John  H.  Hub- 
bard,  Congressman  from  1863-67.  As  he  was  an  ardent 
administration  man  Lincoln  liked  and  trusted  him.  As 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubbard  on  one  occasion  were  attending  a 
White  House  reception,  Lincoln  spied  them  over  the  heads 
of  those  nearer  him  and  called  out  heartily:  "Why,  here 


i8 

comes  old  Connecticut."  Mr.  Hubbard  lived  in  the  house 
with  his  family  until  his  death.  His  wife  and  children  now 
own  the  house  and  reside  in  it. 

The  ancient  elm  at  the  right  of  the  walk  was  brought 
from  the  swamp  and  set  out  by  Frederick  Wolcott  when  a 
youth  and  living  with  his  father  at  the  Wolcott  homestead. 
It  is  one  of  the  finest  trees  in  town  and  about  125  years  old. 

The  Seymour  house,  now  St.  Michael's  rectory,  was  built 
in  1784  by  Samuel  Seymour,  the  brother  of  Major  Moses 
Seymour,  who  lived  there  until  his  death  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century.  The  south  wing  was  added  about  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  ago.  The  southeast  room  on  the  second 
floor  was  used  by  Calhoun  when  a  law  student.  Samuel 
Seymour  was  a  prominent  resident  of  the  town  and  a  captain 
in  the  militia.  He  was  famous  for  sharpening  razors,  and 
every  morning  the  other  members  of  the  Seymour  family 
used  to  come  to  his  house  where  they  kept  their  razors,  and 
all  shave  at  the  same  time.  The  house  was  bought  in  1860 
by  Clarissa  Seymour,  widow  of  Rev.  Truman  Marsh,  who 
gave  it  to  St.  Michael's  Church  for  a  rectory. 

The  Seymour  Homestead,  three  houses  further  north, 
was  built  by  Major  Moses  Seymour  in  1807  for  his  son 
Ozias  Seymour  who  later  built  the  addition  as  it  is  today.  It 
descended  to  Origen  S.  Seymour,  Chief  Justice  of  Connec- 
ticut, whose  son  Morris  Seymour  came  into  possession  in 
1904,  the  house  having  been  continuously  in  the  Seymour 
family  since  it  was  built  100  years  ago. 

Across  the  street  the  Champlin  house,  an  interesting  old 
type,  was  built  in  1796.  It  was  used  for  20  years  as  a 
tavern,  later  came  into  the  possession  of  A.  C.  Smith  whose 
daughter,  Mrs.  Champlin,  owns  it  today. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  street  a  little  farther  south,  is 
a  fine  type  of  house  with  massive  pillars  supporting  the  roof 
and  piazza.  This  house  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  William  H. 
Sanford  and  was  built  about  1832  by  Dr.  Alanson  Abbey, 
who  at  one  time  housed  a  sanitarium  for  cripples  in  it.  The 


THE  CHAMPLIN  HOUSE 


THE  SEYMOUR  HOMESTEAD 


GOULD    HOUSE 
Owned  by  Mrs.  J.  Mason  Hoppin 


GOULD  HOUSE— SOUTH  SIDE 


19 

house  passed  through  several  hands  until  Mr.  Sanford 
bought  it  some  time  ago. 

In  South  street,  scarcely  one  mile  in  length,  originated 
the  Law  School,  the  plan  of  the  existing  Constitution  of  Con- 
necticut, and  Histories  of  Connecticut  and  Litchfield,  the 
latter  written  by  George  C.  Woodruff,  grandfather  of  the 
present  editor  of  the  Enquirer.  It  boasts  three  Governors 
of  the  State,  two  Chief  Judges,  one  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  six  members  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, one  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
two  of  the  first  law  writers  on  the  continent,  a  record 
probably  unequaled  by  any  street  of  equal  length  in  the 
country. 

Before  leaving  South  street  it  is  interesting  to  note  the 
unusual  fact  that  North  street  is  not  a  continuation  forming 
one  long  street  as  in  most  old  New  England  towns,  but  is 
quite  a  little  farther  to  the  west.  At  the  time  of  the  laying 
out  of  the  town  there  is  said  to  have  been  a  magnificent  oak- 
tree  in  the  middle  of  the  street  if  continued  north  from  South 
street.  The  early  settlers  being  unwilling  to  cut  down  so 
fine  a  tree,  the  street  was  built  around  it. 

Let  us  take  the  turn,  cross  the  pretty  park,  and  walk  up 
North  Street,  which  is  not  far  behind  in  matters  of  historical 
importance. 

The  third  oldest  house  in  town  and  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful, is  the  Gould  house,  until  his  death  in  the  fall  of  1906 
owned  by  Prof.  James  M.  Hoppin  of  Yale  University,  well 
known  for  his  literary  works,  especially  in  the  realm  of  art, 
when  it  became  the  property  of  Mrs.  J.  Mason  Hoppin 
of  New  Haven.  It  was  built  in  1760  by  Elisha 
Sheldon.  When  Professor  Hoppin  bought  the  house  of 
Miss  Julia  Gould  in  1871,  he  had  some  repairs  made 
and  the  garret  floor  was  taken  up.  Under  the  floor 
was  found  a  board  on  which  was  written  in  white  chalk 
clear  and  plain,  the  date  April  26,  1760.  Hence  there  can 
be  no  doubt  when  the  house  was  built.  Samuel  Sheldon  took 
the  house  after  his  father  and  conducted  the  famous  Sheldon 


20 

Tavern  or  Inn.  In  the  northeast  room  George  Washington 
spent  one  night,  and  in  the  morning  kept  a  company  of  horse- 
guards  waiting  for  him  while  he  leisurely  completed  his 
toilet  and  finished  breakfast. 

Samuel  Sheldon  sold  the  house  to  General  Uriah  Tracy, 
who  came  to  Litchfield  in  1780.  General  Tracy  represented 
this  town  nine  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  was  a  member  of 
Congress  three  years,  United  States  Senator  eleven  years,  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  most  brilliant  men  of  his  day. 
He  died  at  Washington  in  1807.  His  daughter  Sally 
married  Judge  James  Gould,  who  was  associated  with  Judge 
Reeve  in  1798  in  the  Litchfield  Law  School.  He  was  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut  from  1816  to  1819, 
and  "  Gould's  Pleading  "  is  a  well-known  legal  work.  He 
died  in  1838,  leaving  the  reputation  of  having  been  one  of 
the  greatest  lawyers  and  jurists  in  the  country.  His  daughter 
Julia  sold  the  house  to  Professor  Hoppin  in  1871. 

About  a  mile  west  of  the  village  at  an  abrupt  turn  of  the 
road,  stands  a  small  one-story  dwelling  house.  This  build- 
ing stood  originally  in  the  yard  of  the  Gould  house,  and  was 
the  private  office  of  Judge  James  Gould,  in  which  he  heard 
the  recitations  of  his  classes  and  delivered  the  legal  lectures 
which  rendered  his  name  famous  all  over  the  land.  This  is 
all  that  remains  of  the  once  celebrated  Litchfield  Law  School, 
the  first  in  the  United  States,  begun  in  1784,  which  attracted 
students  from  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  from  which  were 
graduated  many  of  the  most  eminent  jurists  that  our  country 
has  produced. 

Two  houses  below  is  the  Tallmadge  house,  now  owned 
by  Mrs.  John  Vanderpoel  of  New  York  City.  It  was  built 
in  1775  by  Thomas  Sheldon,  of  whom  Colonel  Tallmadge 
bought  it  in  November,  1782.  Colonel  Tallmadge  was  born 
on  Long  Island  and  graduated  at  Yale  in  1773.  In  1776 
he  received  a  lieutenant's  commission  in  the  army ;  later  from 
General  Washington  himself,  a  captain's  commission  in  Shel- 
don's famous  Light  Brigade,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Major  in  1777.  His  company  made  a  fine  appearance,  all 


TALLMADGE   HOUSE 
Owned  by  Mrs.  John  Vanderpoel 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  HON.  J.  DEMING  PERKINS 
West  Front 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  HON.  J.  DOMING  PERKINS 
Garden  Side 


21 

mounted  on  dapple-grey  horses,  black  straps  and  black  bear- 
skin covers. 

Major  Tallmadge  was  very  close  to  Washington,  who 
had  great  confidence  in  him.  At  the  close  of  the  war  Major 
Tallmadge  was  given  the  rank  of  Colonel,  and  was  with 
Washington  and  his  officers  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  its  first  treasurer  and  later  presi- 
dent of  the  Connecticut  Society.  Colonel  Tallmadge  mar- 
ried in  1784  Mary  Floyd,  daughter  of  General  Floyd,  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  made 
Litchfield  his  permanent  home.  In  1801  he  was  elected  to 
Congress  and  served  sixteen  years.  His  Litchfield  home 
was  a  great  resort  for  Revolutionary  officers,  and  when  La- 
fayette visited  this  country  in  1824  he  came  to  Litchfield 
to  see  his  friend  Tallmadge  after  an  interval  of  forty  years. 
Colonel  Tallmadge's  store  stood  south  of  the  house,  and 
later  was  moved  to  become  the  wing  of  Mrs.  Kilbourn's 
house.  In  the  southeast  room  was  his  office.  His  wife  used 
to  powder  his  queue  every  morning.  At  one  time,  the  son 
of  Benjamin  Franklin  was  confined  in  the  house,  a  prisoner 
of  war.  His  farmhouse  was  the  building  on  the  top  of  Pros- 
pect Hill  now  owned  by  Miss  Susan  White.  One  room  was 
kept  exclusively  for  Colonel  Tallmadge  and  his  wife  to  see 
the  beautiful  view. 

Directly  opposite  the  Tallmadge  house  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  residences  in  town,  now  owned  by  the  Hon. 
J.  Deming  Perkins.  It  was  built  in  1793  by  Mr.  Perkins' 
grandfather,  Mr.  Julius  Deming,  and  enlarged  in  1890  by 
Mr.  Perkins.  Julius  Deming  was  born  at  Lyme  in  1755, 
became  a  merchant  here  in  1781.  He  was  a  man  of  remark- 
able energy  and  enterprise.  Soon  after  coming  here  he 
visited  London  and  made  arrangements  to  have  his  goods 
imported  direct  from  that  city;  which  probably  could  not  be 
said  of  any  other  country  merchant  in  New  England  at  the 
time.  Mr.  Deming  also  with  Colonel  Tallmadge  and  Oliver 
Wolcott  bought  the  ship  Trident  and  opened  trade  with 
China,  continuing  it  for  fourteen  years  under  the  name  of 


22 

the  Litchfield  China  Trading  Company.  These  three  gentle- 
men also  imported  two  hundred  horses  to  improve  the  stock 
of  the  country. 

For  many  years  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  county, 
he  went  by  the  name  of  the  "  Crowbar  Justice  "  and  was 
universally  recognized  as  the  most  thorough  and  successful 
business  man  who  has  ever  lived  in  Litchfield.  Mr.  Deming 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
it  is  related  that  after  one  of  the  communion  sacraments  at 
a  time  when  the  entire  service  was  of  pewter,  Colonel  Tall- 
madge  went  to  see  Mr.  Deming  and  asked  him  if  it  did  not 
seem  inappropriate  that  their  tables  should  be  set  with  silver 
while  the  table  of  the  Lord  was  set  with  pewter.  Mr.  Dem- 
ing sharing  his  views,  it  was  agreed  that  on  one  of  his  visits 
to  New  York  he  should  order  silver  cups  or  flagons.  The 
flagons  are  those  now  in  use  and  were  provided  chiefly  by 
the  generosity  of  the  gentlemen  in  question.  Miss  Lucretia 
Deming  made  this  house  her  summer  home,  and  started  the 
long  border  of  perennial  flowers  which  is  so  noticeable  to- 
day. At  her  death  it  became  the  property  of  her  nephew, 
Hon.  J.  Deming  Perkins. 

A  house  of  great  interest  because  there  is  no  house  now 
standing  which  remained  the  same  length  of  time  consecu- 
tively in  the  family  of  the  original  builder,  is  the  house 
known  as  the  Sheldon  or  Child  house,  and  until  her  death 
a  few  years  ago  occupied  by  Mrs.  Nathaniel  R.  Child.  It 
was  built  by  Dr.  Daniel  Sheldon  in  1785.  Dr.  Sheldon  was 
a  prominent  and  beloved  physician  for  more  than  forty 
years.  His  daughter  Lucy  was  born  in  the  house  in  1788, 
who  afterwards  married  Dr.  Theron  Beach,  a  prosperous 
merchant  of  the  town.  Mrs.  Beach  passed  her  entire  life 
in  the  house,  and  when  she  died  in  1889  lacked  but  a  few 
months  of  101  years. 

Mrs.  Child  preserved  with  care  pictures,  ornaments,  and 
furniture  of  great  interest  and  value.  In  the  parlor  were 
to  be  seen  many  pictures  brought  from  France  by  Dr.  Shel- 
don's son,  Daniel  Sheldon,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  Legation  to 


NORTH  STREET  IN  OCTOBER 


23 

France  under  Ambassador  Gallatin.  In  the  hall  hung  his 
dress  sword ;  in  the  parlor  was  the  oldest  piano  in  Litchfield 
if  not  in  the  State.  It  was  made  in  London  over  ninety  years 
ago  by  G.  Astor  &  Co.,  a  brother  of  the  first  John  Jacob 
Astor.  On  the  death  of  Mrs.  Child,  the  house  became  the 
property  of  Captain  Edgar  Van  Winkle  of  New  York,  and 
the  historic  heirlooms  and  treasures  were  divided  among 
the  various  heirs. 

Two  houses  below,  the  house  now  owned  by  Mr.  Fred- 
erick Deming  was  built  (a  part  of  it),  in  1797,  by  John 
Allen,  who  was  a  member  of  Congress  for  many  years.  John 
Allen  was  called  "  The  Giant,"  and  is  said  to  have  been  over 
seven  feet  tall.  He  was  so  heavy  that  at  his  funeral  the  coffin 
was  dropped  on  the  steps  by  the  bearers.  Hon.  Gideon  H. 
Hollister,  who  owned  the  house  at  one  time,  wrote  there  his 
History  of  Connecticut.  Mr.  Edwin  McNeill  bought  the 
house  and  greatly  enlarged  it,  of  whom  Miss  Clarissa  B. 
Deming  bought  it  later.  Its  present  owner,  Mr.  Frederick 
Deming,  bought  it  in  1884,  and  resides  in  it  with  his  family. 

On  the  site  of  the  beautiful  modern  colonial  house  owned 
by  Mr.  F.  L.  Underwood  of  New  York  stood  Miss  Pierce's 
school.  "Miss  Sarah  Pierce  opened  a  school  in  this  town 
for  the  instruction  of  females  in  the  year  1792,  which  has 
very  generally  merited  and  acquired  a  distinguished  repu- 
tation. The  school  continued  under  her  superintendence  for 
nearly  forty  years,  and  its  reputation  was  sustained  a  few 
years  longer  by  her  nephew,  Mr.  John  P.  Brace.  Up  to  the 
time  of  the  founding  of  this  school,  the  education  of  young 
ladies,  with  few  exceptions,  had  been  neglected;  the  district 
school  had  limited  their  course  of  studies.  Miss  Pierce  saw 
and  regretted  this,  and  devoted  herself  and  all  her  active 
life  to  the  mental  and  moral  culture  of  her  sex.  The  experi- 
ment succeeded  entirely.  This  academy  soon  became  the 
resort  of  young  ladies  from  all  portions  of  the  country; 
from  the  cities  and  from  the  towns.  Then  the  country  was 
preferred  as  most  suitable  for  females'  improvement  away 
from  the  frivolities  and  dissipations  of  fashionable  life." 


24 

"  During  the  forty  years  of  the  school  under  Miss  Pierce's 
superintendence,  she  educated  about  three  thousand  young 
ladies.  This  school  was  for  a  long  period  the  most  cele- 
brated in  the  United  States,  and  brought  together  a  large 
number  of  the  most  gifted  and  beautiful  women  of  the  con- 
tinent. They  were  certain  to  be  most  methodically  taught 
and  tenderly  cared  for,  and  under  her  mild  rule  they  could 
hardly  fail  to  learn  whatever  was  most  necessary  to  fit  them 
for  the  quiet  but  elevated  spheres  which  so  many  of  them 
have  since  adorned.  Miss  Pierce  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-three.  She  was  small  in  person,  of  a  cheerful  lively 
temperament,  a  bright  eye,  and  a  face  expressive  of  the  most 
active  benevolence.  She  was  in  the  habit  of  practicing,  her- 
self, all  the  theories  that  she  taught  to  her  pupils,  and  until 
physical  infirmities  confined  her  to  her  room,  would  take  her 
accustomed  walk  in  the  face  of  the  roughest  March  wind  that 
ever  blew  across  our  hills.  The  intelligence  of  her  death  cast 
a  shade  of  sadness  over  many  a  domestic  circle,  and  caused 
many  a  silent  tear  to  fall." 

While  this  School  and  the  Law  School  previously  de- 
scribed were  in  full  and  active  life,  Litchfield  was  famed  for 
an  intellectual  and  social  position  which  is  believed  to  have 
been  at  that  time  unrivaled  in  any  other  village  or  town  of 
equal  size  in  the  United  States. 

The  schoolhouse  was  a  small  building  of  only  one  room, 
probably  not  exceeding  30x70  feet,  with  small  closets  at  each 
end,  one  large  enough  to  hold  a  piano,  and  the  others  used 
for  bonnets  and  over  garments.  The  plainest  of  pine  desks, 
long  plank  benches,  and  an  elevated  teacher's  desk  consti- 
tuted the  whole  furniture. 

The  school  was  situated  in  the  middle  of  the  land  now 
occupied  by  Mr.  F.  L.  Underwood's  house,  Miss  Pierce's 
house  being  just  south  of  it,  and  her  brother  and  nephew, 
the  latter  subsequently  associated  with  her  in  the  school, 
living  in  a  small  red  building  on  the  site  of  the  present  par- 
sonage. 

A  few  of  Miss  Pierce's  scholars  boarded  in  her  own 


BRICK  OVEN  FIREPLACE  IN  A  LITCHFIELD  HOUSE 


HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  PEWTER 


A  LITCHFIELD  PERENNIAL  GARDEN 


JUNE  ROSES  IN  A  LITCHFIELD  GARDEN 


25 

house  built  in  1803,  but  there  was  no  boarding-school  in  the 
modern  acceptation  of  the  term.  The  rest  of  the  pupils 
boarded  with  different  families  throughout  the  town,  as  did 
also  those  of  the  Law  School.  There  were  some  years  as 
many  as  one  hundred  or  more  belonging  to  each  school.* 

"  Imagine  these  now  quiet  streets  with  red  coaches  rat- 
tling through  them,  with  signs  of  importer,  publisher,  gold- 
smith, hatter,  etc.,  hanging  on  the  shops,  with  young  men 
arriving  on  horseback  to  attend  the  Law  School  and  divide 
their  attention  between  their  studies  of  the  law  and  studies 
of  the  pretty  girls  of  the  'Female  Academy.'  Then  there 
were  some  gay  bloods  from  the  South  so  much  at  home  in 
the  town  that  they  disported  themselves  in  pink  gingham 
frock-coats.  So  said  an  eye-witness.  To  complete  the  pic- 
ture, there  was  the  daily  procession  of  school  girls  taking 
their  exercise  to  the  sound  of  flute  and  flageolet,  and  surely 
it  was  a  lively  scene." 

The  first  use  of  the  violin  in  the  town  for  a  dance  was  in 
1748,  the  whole  expense  of  the  amusement,  although  the 
young  people  generally  assembled,  was  one  dollar,  out  of 
which  the  fiddler  was  paid.  When  this  instance  of  profusion 
took  place,  parents,  and  old  people  exclaimed  that  they  should 
be  ruined  by  the  extravagance  of  the  youth.  In  1798,  con- 
tinues the  same  writer,  "  a  ball  with  the  customary  entertain- 
ment and  variety  of  music,  cost  about  $160  and  nothing  was 
said  about  it.  This  serves  to  show  the  great  change  in  the 
wealth  and  character  of  the  people." 

Litchfield  in  1810  was  quite  a  commercial  and  industrial 
center.  The  Gazetteer  of  the  States  of  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  for  1810  says:  "The  most  important  manu- 
factures in  the  town  are  those  of  iron,  of  which  there  are 
four  forges,  one  slitting  mill,  and  one  nail  factory.  There 
are  one  cotton  factory,  one  oil  mill,  one  paper  mill,  two 
cording  machines,  six  fulling  mills,  five  grain  mills,  eighteen 

*  The  first  Post  Road  was  established  between  New  York  and  Litchfield  in 
1792.  In  the  next  six  years  succeeding,  commenced  what  may  be  called  the 
Era  of  Turnpikes  and  Stage  Coaches,  which  continued  in  its  glory  for  forty 
years. 


26 

saw  mills,  five  large  tanneries,  besides  several  on  a  small  scale ; 
two  comb  factories,  two  hatters'  shops,  two  carriage-makers, 
one  cabinet  furniture  maker,  three  saddlers,  and  a  number 
of  house  carpenters,  joiners,  smiths,  and  other  mechanics. 
The  population  then  was  4,639,  and  it  was  the  fourth  town 
in  the  State,  only  Hartford,  New  Haven,  and  Bridgeport 
exceeding  it  in  point  of  population.  There  were  four  com- 
panies of  militia  and  sixteen  mercantile  stores.  That  the 
town  was  a  patriotic  center  can  be  learned  from  the  part  it 
took  in  the  Revolution,  but  it  was  also  public-spirited  and 
particularly  advanced  in  movements  for  education.  Not  only 
did  the  first  law  school  in  America  have  its  beginnings  in 
this  little  town,  and  the  first  school  for  the  higher  education 
of  women  but  in  the  Monitor  for  1798  we  read  of  a  public 
library  as  having  been  in  existence  for  some  time.  The  book 
stores  not  only  advertised  themselves  in  the  weekly  papers, 
but  also  the  new  books  as  they  came  to  their  shelves.  There 
was  a  "  Litchfield  Lyceum  "  with  its  lectures,  debates,  and 
weekly  meetings,  and  still  farther  in  1831  we  find  a  notice 
which  proves  that  even  at  that  early  date  the  movement  to- 
ward manual  training  was  taking  shape  in  the  thought  of 
these  broad-minded  men.  A  society  was  incorporated  Octo- 
ber 27,  1831,  and  a  notice  was  published  to  the  subscribers 
for  stock  in  the  Manual  Labor  High  School  of  Litchfield 
County.  Committee,  Frederick  Wolcott,  Lot  Norton, 
Orange  Merwin,  Tertius  D.  Potter,  and  Solomon  Rockwell. 
Preparations  were  to  be  made  for  the  choice  of  location, 
necessary  buildings,  etc.  Also  about  this  time  we  find  ad- 
vertised a  select  school  for  business  students,  mathematics, 
and  the  languages,  kept  by  M.  R.  Deming. 

In  1789,  thirty  years  before  the  temperance  movement  in 
which  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher  became  so  prominent,  a  tem- 
perance pledge  was  drafted  and  signed  by  many  people. 
The  original  pledge  was  republished  with  other  articles  bear- 
ing upon  the  same  subject  in  the  Litchfield  Enquirer  of  Sep- 
tember 26,  1833.  While  not  the  first  temperance  organiza- 
tion in  the  world,  nevertheless  the  signing  of  this  agreement 


RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  HENRY  R.  COIT 


RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  E.  L.  FERRY 


BUEL  HOMESTEAD 


MODERN  COLONIAL  HOME  OF  DR.  JOHN  L.  BUEL 


27 

is  one  of  the  most  noted  landmarks  in  the  history  of  the  tem- 
perance reform  in  America. 

Next  above  the  Brace  house  was  the  old  Deming  house, 
still  standing,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  E.  L.  Ferry  of  New  York, 
and  enlarged  by  her  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  old  style  of 
the  house.  It  was  built  in  1771  by  Lynde  Lord,  passed  to  his 
son,  Lynde  Lord,  Jr.,  who  sold  it  to  William  Deming,  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Ferry. 

On  Prospect  street,  the  Maxwell  house,  now  owned  by 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Maxwell  of  New  York,  was  built  in  1786  by 
Reuben  Webster.  It  was  at  one  time  the  Congregational 
parsonage,  and  the  Rev.  George  Richards  lived  there  when 
pastor. 

On  the  corner  of  North  street  and  Prospect  stood  the 
Beecher  homestead,  where  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  for  sixteen 
years  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church,  from  1810  to 
1826,  made  his  home  and  reared  his  family.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  were  born  there,  and 
both  received  their  education,  the  former  his  preparation 
for  college,  from  Miss  Sarah  Pierce. 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  well  known  for  his  remarkable 
"  Six  Sermons  on  Temperance."  He  also  organized  in  1812 
the  Litchfield  County  Foreign  Mission  Society,  the  first  Aux- 
iliary of  the  American  Board. 

The  house  was  built  by  Elijah  Wadsworth  in  1775,  and 
after  the  Beechers  left  Litchfield  became  the  home  of  a  boys' 
school,  kept  for  a  number  of  years  by  the  Rev.  James  Rich- 
ards, D.D.,  and  called  "  The  Elm  Park  Collegiate  Institute." 

Some  years  ago  what  was  left  of  the  house  was  moved  to 
another  site,  but  the  old  Beecher  well  may  still  be  seen  on  the 
beautiful  grounds  of  the  present  owner  of  the  property,  Mr. 
Henry  R.  Jones  of  Brooklyn.* 

The  Buel  Homestead,  in  a  commanding  situation  at  the 
head  of  North  street,  was  built  by  Alexander  Catlin  in  1778, 
and  was  bought  by  Dr.  Henry  W.  Buel  about  the  close  of  the 

*  Rev.  Horace  Bushnell,  D.D.,  was  also  born  in  Litchfield,  in  1802.  He  was 
the  author  of  well-known  theological  works,  and  pastor  of  the  North  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Hartford  for  27  years. 


28 

Civil  War.  Dr.  Henry  Buel  was  one  of  the  leading  phy- 
sicians of  the  State,  and  founded  Spring  Hill  Sanatorium  in 
1858.  At  that  date  there  was  a  great  need  of  small  private 
sanatoriums  for  the  treatment  of  nervous  troubles,  and 
Spring  Hill  was  one  of  the  earliest  in  the  United  States.  It 
has  been  continued  and  enlarged  by  his  son,  Dr.  John  L.  Buel. 
His  handsome  modern  colonial  house  is  at  the  head  of  North 
street  on  the  east  side  and  just  south  of  the  Sanatorium. 
On  its  site  in  Revolutionary  times,  stood  a  government  depot 
for  military  stores,  and  another  where  the  courthouse  now 
stands,  a  military  guard  being  stationed  at  both  places  night 
and  day.  Just  below,  about  where  Miss  Van  Winkle's  house 
now  stands,  an  iron  foundry  was  situated,  owned  and  run 
by  Morse  &  Carrington,  where  a  very  superior  quality  of 
ore  from  Salisbury  and  Kent  was  made  into  anchors,  the  first 
and  best  in  the  country. 

Retracing  our  steps  down  North  street  toward  the  center, 
the  next  house  of  historical  interest  is  the  Lord  house,  built 
in  1785  by  Oliver  Boardman  on  Glebe  Land.  The  east  side 
of  North  street,  from  the  corner  of  East  street  to  the  Lord 
house,  was  owned  by  the  church  and  called  Glebe  Land. 

The  land  on  which  the  house  was  built  was  either  leased 
by  or  sold  to  Boardman  by  the  church  authorities,  and  bought 
of  him  by  Sylvester  Spencer,  Litchfield's  former  real  estate 
dealer.  It  was  also  owned  by  Samuel  Beach,  who  sold  it  to 
George  Lord,  the  brother  of  Augustus,  who  with  his  sister 
resided  there  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  His 
sister,  Miss  Lord,  occupied  the  home  until  her  death  in  the 
Spring  of  1907  at  the  age  of  80  years  and  n  months,  when 
the  house  descended  to  her  nieces.  The  side  doorstep,  an 
immense  block  of  stone,  was  brought  from  Salisbury,  requir- 
ing twelve  pair  of  oxen  to  draw  it. 

On  the  site  of  the  house  now  owned  by  Miss  A.  T.  Bulke- 
ley,  was  an  old  house  built  by  Michael  Dickinson  in  1765. 
He  sold  it  to  the  Hon.  Andrew  Adams,  chief  justice  of  the 
State,  who  resided  in  it  for  twenty  years.  His  mother,  Mrs. 
Mary  Adams,  died  there  in  1803  at  the  age  of  105  years, 


SPRING   HILL  SANATORIUM 
Main  House 


AVENUE  OP  TREES 
Spring  Hill  Sanatorium 


29 

and  had  the  unusual  experience  of  living  in  three  centuries, 
being  born  in  1698.  And  as  if  this  were  not  enough  she 
rode  on  horseback  thirty  miles  in  one  day  after  she  had 
passed  her  hundredth  year.  The  Misses  Edwards,  grand- 
daughter of  the  first  President  Edwards,  occupied  it  as  a 
boarding-house  for  law  students.  It  passed  through  various 
hands,  until  Capt.  Charles  Jones  tore  down  the  old  house  and 
built  about  1850  the  house  now  standing,  which  has  been 
much  enlarged  by  its  present  owner. 

The  house  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Henry  R.  Coit  was  built 
in  1770  by  Dr.  Reuben  Smith,  a  prominent  resident  and 
physician,  and  was  sold  to  the  Hon.  Asa  Bacon  in  1806. 
Judge  Bacon  was  born  in  Canterbury,  and  was  associated 
with  Judges  Reeve  and  Gould,  bringing  his  entire  school 
with  him  from  Canterbury  when  he  came  here  to  settle. 
He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Litchfield  Bar  and  a 
man  of  fine  personal  appearance. 

Mr.  Henry  Coit,  through  his  connection  with  the  Bank 
and  Shepaug  Railroad,  and  in  other  ways  closely  identified 
for  many  years  with  all  that  pertained  to  the  welfare  of  mod- 
ern Litchfield,  bought  the  house  of  Judge  Bacon,  and  lived 
there  until  his  death.  It  is  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Henry  R. 
Coit  and  her  son,  Mr.  Charles  H.  Coit,  with  his  family. 

The  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Elbert  P.  Roberts,  one 
of  Litchfield's  real  estate  dealers,  on  the  corner  of  North  and 
East  streets,  was  built  in  1792  by  Charles  Butler,  cashier  of 
the  Litchfield  Bank.  It  was  originally  a  story  and  a  half 
gable-roofed  house.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  it  was  bought  by  Frederick  Deming,  father  of  the 
present  Mr.  Frederick  Deming  of  North  street,  who  en- 
larged it  and  built  on  the  east  wing.  When  Mr.  Deming 
moved  to  New  York  he  sold  the  place  to  Oliver  S.  Weller, 
and  the  latter  built  the  small  building  where  the  school  now 
is,  for  a  small  store,  where  he  sold  dry  and  wet  goods,  chiefly 
the  latter.  After  his  death  Mrs.  Weller  continued  the  busi- 
ness as  long  as  she  lived,  when  the  house  went  to  two  nieces 
in  Woodbury  who  are  its  present  owners.  On  the  death  of 


30 

these  ladies  the  house  will  be  the  property  of  St.  Michael's 
Parish  Church. 

Next  door  is  the  house  owned  by  Miss  Mary  L.  Phelps, 
the  oldest  house  on  East  street,  and  one  of  the  oldest  in  town. 
The  plain  old,  substantial  roomy  type  of  house  with  its 
twelve-paned  windows  and  magnificent  elms  shadowing  the 
doorway,  make  it  one  of  the  principal  attractions  of  the  cen- 
ter. The  house  was  built  for  a  tavern  in  1782  by  John 
Collins,  son  of  Rev.  Timothy  Collins,  first  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church.  There  was  a  bar  in  the  southwest 
front  room,  with  the  ballroom  directly  overhead.  It  was 
sold  by  John  Collins  to  Aaron  Smith  and  bought  of  the  latter 
in  1 8 1 1  by  Luke  Lewis,  Miss  Phelps'  grandfather,  remain- 
ing in  the  family  ever  since.  Mr.  Lewis  and  his  family 
moved  in  May  5,  1812,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
night  before  there  had  been  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  so  that 
they  moved  all  their  possessions  over  on  ox-sleds.  When 
Mr.  Lewis  moved  into  the  present  Phelps  house,  his  store 
was  on  North  street,  next  to  the  Coit  house.  The  store  was 
built  in  1781  by  Dr.  Reuben  Smith  eleven  years  after  he 
built  the  Coit  house.  Mr.  Lewis  moved  it  down  next  the 
Phelps  house,  and  it  is  now  occupied  by  Ralph  Smith  as  a 
shop  for  the  sale  and  repairing  of  old-fashioned  furniture 
with  the  sign,  "  Ye  Old  Curiosity  Shoppe  "  over  the  door. 
At  the  time  of  removal  nearly  all  the  stores  were  on  North 
street. 

Passing  along  East  street  we  come  next  to  the  United 
States  Hotel,  open  the  year  round.  Built  in  1787  by  David 
Buel,  this  popular  and  well-known  hostelry  is  today  probably 
the  oldest  hotel  in  point  of  continuous  service  now  standing 
in  the  county  if  not  in  the  State.  Very  few  country  hotels 
have  entertained  so  many  distinguished  men  and  handsome 
women.  As  originally  built,  the  whole  top  floor  was  a  ball- 
room. This  room  has  had  many  famous  guests  honored  not 
only  in  Litchfield  and  Connecticut,  but  at  the  nation's  capital. 
In  1824  the  famous  ball  to  Lafayette  was  given  here.  The 
hostelry  was  sold  to  John  Phelps,  and  the  house  was  well 


PHELPS'  HOUSE 


LIBRARY  CORNER 


UNITED  STATES  HOTEL 


ROBERTS'  CORNER 


known  under  his  regime.  Among  those  who  have  owned  or 
managed  the  United  States  Hotel  are  Eben  Bolles,  Denman 
Woodruff,  Rufus  Smith,  and  William  Grossman.  Mr.  Smith 
cut  up  the  famous  ballroom  into  bedrooms  and  put  on  a  new 
roof.  Mr.  Campbell,  the  present  proprietor,  married  Mr. 
Grossman's  daughter,  and  a  few  years  hence  made  extensive 
alterations  and  improvements,  but  the  glory  and  fame  of  the 
historical  old  hostelry  cannot  be  forgotten  by  any  moderniz- 
ing. 

Next  to  the  hotel  still  going  east  is  the  Bissell  house, 
the  fourth  oldest  house  now  standing  in  the  village.  It  was 
built  by  William  Marsh  in  1761. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  east,  at  a  fork  of  the  road 
stands  a  very  interesting  old  house  built  in  1796,  now  owned 
by  Edson  Perkins. 

The  first  house  erected  on  West  street  now  standing  is 
the  George  Kenney  house,  built  by  Eli  Smith  in  1780. 

The  first  Congregational  Church  stood  about  where  the 
monument  now  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  green,  was  com- 
pleted about  1726  and  sold  at  auction  in  1762  after  the 
completion  of  the  second  church,  in  which  Lyman  Beecher 
preached  and  where  he  delivered  his  celebrated  six  sermons 
on  temperance.  The  third  church,  now  Armory  Hall,  on 
the  Torrington  Road,  was  completed  in  1829,  and  Dr.  Loren 
Hickok  was  the  pastor.  The  present  church  was  dedicated 
in  1873,  and  Rev.  John  Hutchins  has  been  the  pastor  since 
1895.  A  beautiful  memorial  window  was  placed  in  the 
church  in  memory  of  Dr.  Henry  W.  Buel  by  his  children. 

St.  Michael's  Episcopal  Church  was  dedicated  in  1851 
and  is  the  third  edifice,  the  first  being  built  in  1749  about  a 
mile  west  of  the  courthouse.  The  present  church  had  a  spire 
above  the  tower  which  was  blown  down  in  a  storm  a  few 
years  ago.  Dr.  Storrs  O.  Seymour,  the  present  rector,  is 
serving  for  a  second  term  the  parish  with  which  the  Seymour 
family  has  been  identified  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
There  are  several  beautiful  memorial  windows  in  the  church, 
and  in  the  vestibule  will  be  noticed  a  stone  mounted  in  brass 


32 

and  suitably  inscribed.  This  stone  came  from  the  Cathedral 
of  Lich field,  Eng.,  presented  by  the  dean  and  chapter 
through  the  kindness  and  interest  of  Miss  Mary  Benson  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  The  first  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
was  built  on  Meadow  street  in  1837;  up  to  that  time  the 
early  Methodists  met  in  private  houses  and  then  in  the  town 
hall.  The  present  church  was  dedicated  in  1885  by  Bishop 
Harris  of  New  York. 

In  1888  St.  Anthony's  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  dedi- 
cated by  Bishop  McMahon.  It  has  a  fine  situation  in  the 
middle  of  South  street,  and  an  able  parish  priest,  Rev.  P.  M. 
Skelley. 

Before  we  leave  ancient  Litchfield,  let  us  take  a  look  at 
the  historic  tombs  in  the  old  cemetery  at  the  foot  of  East 
Hill.  The  Wolcott  plot  is  near  the  north  end  of  the  yard, 
marked  by  five  monuments  and  four  massive  tables  of  marble 
and  granite.  The  first  table  is  inscribed  to  Oliver  Wolcott, 
Sr.,  and  the  second  to  his  son. 

Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge  lies  near  the  Wolcott 
tomb.  The  tomb  of  John  Pierpont  may  be  found,  and 
those  of  two  of  the  children  of  Lyman  Beecher.  The 
searcher  will  be  rewarded  by  many  quaint  epitaphs  and  many 
names  of  historical  interest  will  be  found. 

Mention  must  be  made  of  the  first  Litchfield  paper, 
The  Monitor,  established  in  1784,  and  highly  important  in 
its  day.  Its  full  name  was  The  Weekly  Monitor  and  Ameri- 
can Advertiser,  and  it  was  first  issued  the  year  of  the  Law 
School  by  Thomas  Collier,  printed  on  coarse  blue  paper  on 
a  sheet  about  one-third  the  size  of  the  present  Litchfield 
Enquirer.  There  were  only  three  Litchfield  advertisements, 
— Wm.  Russell,  stocking  weaver,  from  Norwich,  Eng.,  an- 
nounced that  he  was  ready  to  make  worsted,  cotton,  and 
linen  jackets  and  breeches  patterns,  men's  and  women's  stock- 
ings, gloves,  and  mitts.  Zalmon  Bedient,  barber,  offers  cash 
for  human  hair;  Cornelius  Thayer,  brazier,  also  calls  atten- 
tion to  his  business.  The  Monitor  was  continued  for  a 
period  of  twenty-two  years,  for  sixteen  of  which  it  had  no 


THE  HAWKHURST  HOTEL 


ANCIENT  MILE  STONE 


33 

rival  in  the  town,  and  it  was  at  once  the  organ  and  oracle 
of  the  federal  party  in  this  region.  Other  shortlived  news- 
papers, were  The  Witness,  democratic,  The  Litchfield 
Gazette,  The  Litchfield  Journal,  The  Miscellany,  The 
American  Eagle,  The  Litchfield  County  Post,  which  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  present  Litchfield  Enquirer,  The  Litch- 
field Democrat,  The  Litchfield  Sun,  The  Mercury,  The 
Democratic  Watchman,  and  The  Litchfield  Republican,  all 
weekly  papers  and  continuing  for  a  period  varying  between 
one  and  five  years.  The  present  Litchfield  Enquirer  is  con- 
ducted by  George  C.  Woodruff,  and  though  a  small  paper 
is  well  known  through  the  State. 

In  closing  this  brief  account  of  historical  Litchfield,  a 
word  must  be  said  of  her  as  she  is  today.  Local  pride  as 
shown  by  individual  enterprise  or  by  the  Village  Improve- 
ment Society,  founded  in  1875,  with  Hon.  George  M.  Wood- 
ruff for  president,  keeps  the  houses  and  streets  in  modern 
up-to-date  condition,  the  whole  town  presenting  a  park-like 
appearance,  the  ancient  trees  arching  overhead  making 
Litchfield  one  of  the  prettiest  of  the  old  New  England 
towns. 

In  1872  the  Shepaug  Valley  Railroad  was  opened  to  the 
public,  and  today  gives  easy  communication  with  New  York, 
connecting  with  the  Pittsfield  express  at  Bethel.  Through 
parlor  cars  from  New  York  without  change  are  put  on  for 
the  summer  some  time  in  June. 

In  1892  the  Fire  Department  Building  was  formally 
opened.  It  is  handsomely  equipped  with  all  modern  im- 
provements, and  was  the  gift  of  the  Hon.  J.  Deming  Per- 
kins. Two  large  fires  have  devastated  the  business  center 
of  the  town,  in  1886  and  1888,  but  thanks  to  the  generosity 
of  this  public-spirited  citizen,  no  largely  destructive  fire  is 
possible  in  the  future. 

An  excellent  bank  was  founded  here  in  1856,  a  branch 
of  the  Phoenix  Bank  of  Hartford,  the  first  incorporation 
of  which  as  a  branch  was  in  1 8 14.  It  is  called  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Litchfield,  is  situated  on  North  street,  and 


34 

has  for  president,  Hon.  George  M.  Woodruff;  vice-presi- 
dent, Mr.  Charles  H.  Coit. 

A  modern  hotel,  The  Hawkhurst,  is  open  from  June 
until  late  in  the  fall.  It  was  built  about  1878,  is  situated 
half  way  up  West  Hill  from  the  Shepaug  station,  and  is  a 
modernly  equipped  comfortable  summer  hotel  with  fine  view 
of  the  lake  and  hills  from  the  rear. 

The  Foster  School,  which  occupies  the  Hawkhurst  from 
October  to  June,  came  to  Litchfield  in  the  fall  of  1906  from 
Cornwall,  where  it  had  been  established  for  several  years. 

Under  the  watchful  care  and  affectionate  guidance  of  the 
Rev.  Allen  K.  Foster,  the  head  master,  the  school  has  just 
closed  a  most  prosperous  year. 

Nearly  opposite  is  the  Litchfield  Club  house,  open  to 
members  through  the  summer  months,  with  excellent  modern 
dirt  tennis  courts  where  the  State  tennis  tournaments  have 
been  held,  fine  large  assembly  room,  where  dances  are  fre- 
quently given,  also  stage  for  amateur  theatricals  and  musi- 
cales.  It  was  built  in  1893. 

On  East  Hill  is  the  small  club  house  of  the  Litchfield 
Golf  Club,  a  well-kept  course  leading  golfers  through  an  ex- 
ceedingly pretty  country.  Membership  may  be  had  for  short 
or  long  terms. 

On  the  corner  of  South  and  East  streets,  overshadowed 
by  the  century-old  trees,  stands  the  public  library  which 
houses  the  Litchfield  Circulating  and  Wolcott  Memorial 
Libraries.  Though  built  but  a  few  years  ago  in  1902,  its 
simplicity  of  style  is  in  general  harmony  with  the  colonial 
appearance  of  most  of  the  houses.  The  building  was  started 
by  Mr.  John  A.  Vanderpoel  as  a  memorial  to  his  grand- 
mother, Mrs.  William  Curtis  Noyes,  but  he  died  before  its 
completion,  and  the  work  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  Vanderpoel's 
mother,  Mrs.  John  Vanderpoel  of  New  York  and  North 
street,  Litchfield.  The  beautiful  Tiffany  window  was  placed 
there  by  Mr.  Vanderpoel's  widow  as  a  memorial  to  him. 

A  large  addition  under  construction  for  the  past  two 
years,  is  now  completed,  and  on  the  fifth  of  July  the  Dedica- 


CLUB  HOUSE 


CLUB  HOUSE  WITH  TENNIS  COURTS  AT  THE  REAR 


<  p 


31 

a  « 


35 

tion  of  the  building  and  Celebration  of  the  5<Dth  anniversary 
of  the  founding  of  the  Litchfield  County  Historical  Society, 
took  place  in  the  new  Historical  room.  The  Litchfield 
Historical  Society  was  organized  in  1893,  the  Litchfield 
County  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society,  incorporated 
in  1856,  having  preceded  it.  It  has  a  collection  of  Histori- 
cal heirlooms  and  treasures  of  rare  interest.  The  collec- 
tion had  outgrown  its  quarters  and  will  be  seen  to  better  ad- 
vantage in  the  large  handsome  room  now  ready  for  it,  in 
the  new  part  of  the  building.  The  collection  may  be  seen 
at  any  time  by  application  to  the  Curator,  Miss  M.  L. 
Phelps,  and  is  open  through  the  summer  on  special  days. 
A  large  stained  glass  window,  placed  in  the  new  part  of  the 
building  as  a  memorial  to  the  Litchfield  County  soldiers  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  by  the  Mary  Floyd  Tallmadge 
Chapter,  D.  A.  R.  of  Litchfield,  with  the  aid  of  contributions 
from  descendants  and  others,  was  presented  to  the  Historical 
Society  at  the  above  mentioned  dedication  and  semi-centen- 
nial celebration  with  an  interesting  programme  of  patriotic 
addresses.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  one  designed  by  Crownin- 
shield  of  New  York,  and  represents  a  winged  youth  bearing 
a  sword  in  one  hand  and  a  laurel  crown  in  the  other,  gazing 
thoughtfully  into  the  distance.  The  background  of  blue 
hills  and  meadow,  as  indeed  the  whole  window,  is  especially 
fine  in  color  and  appropriate  in  design  to  its  setting  in  the 
Library  of  a  town  among  the  hills. 

The  Scientific  Society  was  organized  in  1902,  and  is 
making  collections  of  Litchfield  County  species  in  all 
branches  past  and  present.  An  interesting  exhibit  of  birds, 
etc.,  of  the  county  can  already  be  seen.  Informal  lectures  on 
scientific  subjects  are  held  monthly  in  the  library  building. 
In  the  new  part  of  the  building  on  the  lower  floor  a  fine 
large  room  is  devoted  to  the  uses  of  the  Scientific  Society 
and  provides  the  place  until  now  lacking  for  the  exhibition 
of  the  interesting  specimens  already  secured. 

A  few  doors  below  the  library  on  South  street,  an  old 
building  has  been  transformed  into  an  attractive  little  club- 


36 

house  for  the  new  club  for  gentlemen,  called  "  The  Sanctum." 

In  the  center  of  the  park  is  the  memorial  monument  to 
the  Litchfield  soldiers  who  fell  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  west  of  it  stands  cannon  and  balls,  presented  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  as  a  part  of  the  memorial. 

From  the  center  we  get  a  good  view  of  the  court  house, 
a  dignified,  modern,  granite  building,  with  clock  striking 
the  hour  and  quarter  hours.  This  is  the  third  building;  the 
first  was  burned  in  1886  in  the  first  great  fire.  In  1888  the 
business  center  was  burned  for  the  second  time,  and  the  new 
courthouse,  which  had  just  received  its  last  coat  of  paint, 
took  fire  and  like  its  predecessor  of  two  years  before,  went 
up  in  fire  and  smoke.  The  present  building  was  built  in 
1897-8. 

Across  the  square,  on  the  corner  of  North  and  West 
street,  is  the  County  Jail,  so  trimly  kept  that  one  would 
scarcely  suspect  its  serious  purpose  in  life.  This  is  the 
second  building;  the  jail  of  Revolutionary  times  was  on  East 
street  on  the  site  of  the  present  school-house.  In  it  were  con- 
fined as  prisoners  of  war,  General  Franklin,  British  governor 
of  New  Jersey,  and  Mr.  Matthews,  British  mayor  of  New 
York  City.  The  latter's  traveling  trunk  and  part  of  his 
traveling  carriage  were  in  possession  of  the  Seymour  family, 
Major  Moses  Seymour  having  been  in  charge  of  the  jail  at 
the  time.  The  present  jail  was  built  in  1812. 

On  East  street,  near  the  corner  of  North  street,  in  front 
of  the  Jail,  stands  the  Whipping-post  Elm,  much  in  use  at 
one  time,  twenty  or  thirty  strokes  being  the  usual  punishment. 

If  we  take  a  drive  out  the  West  Goshen  road,  passing 
the  beautiful  home  nestled  in  the  hills  and  surrounded  by 
beautiful  woods,  owned  by  Mrs.  F.  Norton  Goddard  of 
New  York,  widow  of  the  well-known  philanthropist,  we 
come  in  time  to  an  old  farmhouse,  the  former  home  of  Miss 
Mary  Buel,  a  gentle  sweet  old  lady  who  at  her  death  gave 
her  home  to  found  a  branch  of  the  George  Junior  Republic, 
of  which  the  parent  institution  is  at  Freeville,  New  York. 
There  are  now  about  thirty  boys  there  under  the  superin- 


37 

tendence  of  Mr.  King,  a  college  graduate,  who  is  devoting 
his  life  to  the  work.  The  system  of  self-government  prac- 
ticed is  showing  wonderful  results  both  in  Freeville  and  in 
the  small  branch  here  in  Litchfield.  It  is  an  excellent  work 
and  should  receive  all  the  assistance  possible.  As  the  branch 
is  not  endowed  much  help  is  needed. 

A  group  of  the  boys  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  pic- 
ture. Two  auxiliaries  have  been  started  during  the  year, 
one  in  New  York  and  one  in  Litchfield  to  assist  in  the  many 
needs  of  such  an  institution.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  an  en- 
dowment fund  will  be  secured  before  long. 

About  a  mile  this  side  of  Milton,  is  the  scene  of  another 
good  work  —  a  vacation  home  for  children  through  the 
Tribune  Fresh  Air  Fund.  The  home  is  maintained  as  a 
memorial  to  Mr.  Shepard  Knapp  of  New  York  and  Litch- 
field who  died  several  years  ago.  It  harbors  more  than  a 
hundred  children  at  a  time,  and  entertainments  are  given 
from  time  to  time  to  which  the  public  is  invited. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Litchfield,  with  its  healthful  situation 
and  beautiful  hills,  is  an  ideal  place  for  work  of  the  kind, 
and  a  most  delightful  resort  at  all  times  even  in  the  bleak 
winter  months,  for  those  who  truly  love  the  beauties  of 
Nature.  We  look  back  upon  a  past  of  historical  importance 
and  we  look  forward  to  a  future  of  ever-increasing  interest. 


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